Wire reel and holding means



March 26, 1 946. M CAMRAS 2,397,087

WIRE REEL AND HOLDING MEANS Filed July 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March26, 1946. M. CAMRAS 2,397,087

WIRE REEL AND HOLDING MEANS Filed July 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedMar. 26, 1946 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIRE REEL AND HOLDING MEANSMarvin Camras, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Armour Research Foundation,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 4,1942, SerialNo. 449,733

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a wire reel and holding means,and more particularly to a reel having means associated there-'undamaged. Especially in the case of wire used.

for magnetic recording purposes, no abrupt bends should be made in thewire, no interlocking of layers or strands should occur so that onesurface of the wire is rubbed against another surface, and even the endsof the wire should be carefully preserved so that a recording of animportant conversation, an oration, or some other important reproductionthat maynever again be reproduced with exactness, may be keptindefinitely. Wire reels in holders, in the past, have provenobjectionable in that they were incapable of adequately holding a woundwire without injury to some portion of the wire, or difficultto-manipulate, or were not effective in adequately protecting wire ofmaterial value.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instantinvention to provide a wire reel and holder so arranged as to positivelyhold a wire wound therearound without any abrupt, permanent or reversebends in the wire.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a wire reeland holder to maintain a coil of fine wire in rolled position withoutany injury resulting to the wire, including the outer surfaces of thewire, and permit the wire to be transported on the reel from place toplace.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a reel andholder for wire which not only anchors the wire to the reel for windingpurposes, but also protects the entire outer surface of the wire afterwinding upon the reel.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a wirereel and holder which effectively anchors one end of the wire prior towinding, and the other end of the wire after winding, and yet permitsthe wire to be rewound from time to time on another similar reel andholder with the same protection.

Also a feature of the invention resides in the provision of a reelequipped with holding means to carry a roll of wire in a mannerpreventing injury to any portion or to the surface of the wound wire,and eliminate any necessity of abrupt bends in the wire, or interlockingof one strand with another.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a wire reel and holderof such character that one end of the wire may be locked to the reelalmost instantaneously, and the other end of the wire, after winding,may not only be anchored in position but the entire outer surface of thewound wire. protected in a single operation,

It is also an object of the invention to provide a wire reel equippedwith a combination wire end anchoring member and protector for theentire outer surface of the wound wire.

' While some of the more salient features, characteristics andadvantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, otherswill become apparent from the following disclosures, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic elevational view illustrating aninstrument, by way of example only, in which wire is unwound from onereel, and rewound upon another reel, such reels embodying principles ofthe instant invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially as indicated by the line IIII of Figure 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Figur '3 is a fragmentary plan sectional view taken substantially asindicated by the line III-III of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view in the same plane asFigure 2, but illustrating the anchoring of a wire end by the meansshown in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of one of th reels .of Figure 1illustrating the holding substantially as indicated by the line VIIVIIof Figure 6' illustrating the locking of both ends of the wire upon the;reel;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view, similar in character to Figures 5and 6, but showing a slightly different form of construction fortheouter wire anchoring and cover member, with the cover member inunsecured position;

cation to Figures 8 and 9, but showing another difference inconstruction.

As shown on the drawings: The illustrated embodiment of this inventionaee'mev face of the head I! is flush with the outer surface of theflange ll as seen in Figure 2. It will e noted that the head I: is ofreduced thickness reel. After a recording of a sound production has beenmade upon the wire, it may later be reproduced by again rewinding thewire in connection with an amplifying system. Wire used for soundrecording purposes is of an extremely delicate character. That is, thewire will have adequate tensile strength so as to avoid unwelcomebreakage, but the wire, nevertheless, is ofvery small size, frequentlybut a very few thousandths of an inch in diameter. Any mishandling ofsuch a wire, such as by an abrupt bend, such as marrins, cutting orbreakage, obviously would interfere with the later use of the wire tofaithfully reproduce what is recorded on the wire. The wire musttherefore be handled in a .careful manner. but one permitting quiteexpeditious and facile use of the wire, and at times it is necessary totransport the wire from place to place, and even store it for aconsiderable length of time before it is desired to reproduce therecording. To this end, the present invention in part provides animproved wire reel and holding means.

In the apparatus shown in Figure 1 there is included a housing Icontaining a rotatably mounted ree1'2 embodying principles of the present invention, located near oneend of the housing, and a like reel 2also rotatably mounted adjacent the other end of the housing. Each reelis provided with a suitable level winding apparatus 3 to insure an evenwinding of a Wire I on either of the spools 2-2. With this particularapparatus, the wire 4 may travel in either direction so that it may bewound upon one of the reels or spools 2, and then rewound in reversedirection upon the other.

Assuming that the wire is moving from left to right, as seen in Figure1, it first passes through a demagnetizlng or erasing head 5, thenaround a suitable pulley 6, through a magnetizing or recording head I,over another pulley 8, and thence to the right-hand reel or spool .2. Ifthe apparatus is equipped with an amplifying and reproductionarrangement, the wire may be wound in reverse direction after having arecording made upon it, then re-run again in its first direction, and areproduction made. However, if the wire is to be retained aftermagnetizing for later reproduction in the same or some other locality.the wire will ultimately all be wound on the righthand spool, and thisspool may be removed from the apparatus and preserved until desiredforreproductive use.

The present invention centers itself with the construction of the reels2-2, and the means associated with the reels for holding the wire inproper position upon the reels against any injury to the wire. Withreference to Figure 2 it will be seen that the reel 2 comprises thecustomary barrel 9, a radially extending flange It on one side of thebarrel, and a similar flange II on the opposite side. In the illustratedinstance, the flange I0 is provided with an opening l2 to accommodatethe head l3 of a slidable plunger It which extends substantially throughthe barrel 9, and is provided at it other end with another head l5 alsoseatable in a suitable opening in the flange II. A recess I6 is providedin the barrel around a portion of the plunger II, and a coil.

spring I! inserted in this recess urges the plunger at all times to aposition such that the outer surto thereby permit a reciprocatingmovement 0 the plunger ll. Y

When it is desired to anchor the end of the wire 4 to the reel to startwinding the wire upon the reel, it is a simple-expedient to pressinwardly with the thumb or linger on the head l3, thereby pushing thehead I 5 outwardly as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4. The end ofthe wire 4 may then be turned inwardly preferably in a gentle bend asindicated at l8 in Figure 3, and not in the nature of an abrupt orreverse bend. The end portion I8 is then placed in the space between thehead i5 and the barrel 9, and pressure on the head 13 is released,Permitting the spring I! to restore the parts a nearly'to their formerposition as the thickness of the wire permits, as shown in full lines inFigure 4. The end of the wire is thus clamped by the spring pressurebetween the head I! and the barrel 9 and firmly retained in position sothat it may readily be wound on the spool or reel 2. With reference toFigure 3 it will be seen that the wire is smoothly wound upon the reelor spool 2, assuming that the spool turns in a counter-clockwisedirection as viewed in this figure. There is no'abrupt bend at the pointwhere the end portion l8 of the wire curves inwardly from the outersurface of the barrel 9, and th clamping pressure on this end portion ofthe wire is merely two relatively large flat surfaces engaging the wiretherebetween, so that there is little if any likelihood of the.slightest injury to the surface ,of even the end portion of the wire.

After the wire 4 ha been evenly wound upon the reel 2, the coil of wirewill appear as seen in Figure 5 and 6. Recording may have occurredthroughout the full length of the wire, and therefore the end of thewire opposite the end l8 mustbe prevented from injury also. The samewould be true in the event the 'wire was 'of some valuable metal, so asto avoid unnecessary and expensive waste. Likewise, the entire outersurface of the coil of wire I should be protected a much as possible.

I have provided a cover member in the form'of a band l9 which, as bestseen in Figure '7, is preferably of such a width as just to fit betweenthe reel flanges l0 and H so that the band will overlie the entire outersurface of the coiled wire I. The band I9 may be made of any suitablematerial such as metal, plastic, a treated fabric, a rubberizedcomposition, etc.

The band is sized to circumscribe the coil of wire upon the reel; andone end of the band is provided with a male snap member 20 while theother and preferably the outer end of the band is provided with acomplemental female snap memher 2 I. With reference more particularly toFigure 5 it will also be seen that the band is also provided with anaperture 22 spaced a short distance away from the male snap member 20.The outer end portion of 'thewire 4 is brought over the outer surface ofthe band, and then threaded through the aperture 22, as indicated at23', so

' that the extreme end portion 24 of the wire unaround, and the femalesnap member 2| snaps over and into engagement with the malesnap member20, as shown in Figure 6. The wire is then firmly secured to the reel ina manner that will effectively protect the wire, leaving only a verysmall portion of the wire, that between the outer end of the band andthe aperture 22 exposed. This exposed portion of the wire is sufiicientto indicate not only that the reel contains a coil of wire, but also toindicate the kind, character, color, or various other characteristics ofthe particular wire on that reel.

After once being wound upon the reel, and the cover member 19 applied,the wire is prevented from shifting in any manner since one end of thewire is clamped between the head l5 of the plunger 14 and the barrel 9,as seen in Figures 4 and '7, and the outer free end of the wire isfirmly held by threaded engagement with the cover band IS. The reel maythen be freely transported from place to'place, placed in storage for alength of time, handled in substantially any other feasible manner, andthe wire will remain in the same condition it was when placed upon thereel.

In the event it is desired to more tightly wind the wire around thereel, or in the event a somewhat heavier wire may be used, it might bedesirable to more firmly anchor the free end of the wire. To this end, Ihave illustrated a slightly modified form of construction in Figures 8and 9 wherein the same outer covering member I! with the same snapmembers 20 and 2| is' provided. In this instance, however, the band I9is provided with a pair of spaced apertures 25 and 26 adjacent the innerend of the band, the apertures being spaced longitudinally of the band.With this arrangement, the free end portion of the wire I is firstpassed underthe inner end of the band, upwardly through the firstaperture 26, over the outer face of the band, and then threaded inwardlythrough the aperture 25, with the ultimate free end 24 underlying theband. This double threaded engagement. with the band provides a firmeranchorage of the free end portion of the wire. and it will be noted thatno injury results to the wires since only gentle oblique bends are usedin threading the wire through both apertures. This arrangement leaves asmall portion 21 of the wire exposed between the apertures 25 and 26,which exposed portion will denote that the spool contains a coil ofwire. the color. size, kind, character, and so'forth. of the particularwire on that reel. After the threading of the wire, the snap members 20and 2| are engaged with each other, as explained above.

In some instances, especially in the case of sound recordings, the reelmay be tagged or some identifying legend may be written directly on theoutside of the cover member. In such event, it is not necessary that anexposed portion of wire be available for identifying the character.kind, etc. of wire upon the reel. It may even be desirable under certaincircumstances to completely enclose every part of the wire.

To this end, in Figure 10. I have shown a cover 28 engaged around awound spool of wire. This cover band has the male snap member 20 spacedback from the inner end portion 29 of the band, and this inner endportion is provided with a pair of spaced apertures or the equivalent3!! and 31.

The wire is threaded through the apertures '30 and 3| as above describedin connection with the showing in Figures 8 and 9. but the portion ofthe wire 21 outside of the end portion 29 of the band simple inconstruction, highly tion 32 of the band which carries the female snapmember 2|. The only difference between this band and the one describedin connection with Figures 8 and 9 is that it is sufllciently longer topermit the inner end portion with the apertures to underlie the outerend portion so that the entire wire is completely covered by the band.

It is obvious that in the event only one aperture or the equivalent isdesired, and this may most frequently be the case with a bandconstruction such as illustrated in Figure 10, one of the apertures 30and 3| may be omitted, or 'only one of them need be used in the mannerabove described in connection with Figures 5 and 6.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a novel reel'forwire or the like, which reel not only gently but firmly holds the innerend of the wire, permitting it to be wound smoothly about the reel, andthen is equipped with an outer covering member which firmly anchors theouter end of the wire and protects the outer exposed surface of the wirecoil on the reel barrel. It will be noted that the structure isextremely simple and may be operated very expeditiously and with aminimum of effort. so that it is a simple expedient to wind a reelof'wire, place it in storage or handle it in some other desirable way,substitute a diiferently wound reel for the first one, and wind the wireon that reel, and handle the various wound reels or emptly reels in acontinuous easy fashion, the wound reels not only being firmly held atboth ends, but also protected during handling. It will be further notedthat the entire reel together with its holding means is .emcient anddurable, and may be economically manufactured and used.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of constructionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a flanged spool upon which an elongated member may bewound, and a bandllke cover member of a size to fit between the flangesof the spool and circumscribe a wound coil, said cover member havinglongitudinally spaced apertures adjacent an end thereof through whichthe free end portion of the wound member may be successively threaded inopposite directions to anchor the same.

2. In combination, a spool upon which an elongated member may be wound,and a cover member arranged to circumscribe and conceal the woundmember, one end of said cover having means for engagement with the freeend portion of the wound member, said cover member being suflicientlylong for the other end to overlap such engagement, and fastening meansfor engaging said other end with a portion of the cover member back ofsaid means.

3. In a reel for a thin strand of material wound thereon in multi-strandlayers, a barrel, a radially extending flange on each end of the barrel,and a cover positionable around the wound strand be-' tween saidflanges, said cover having means for an interlocking engagement with theouter end of the coiled strand to hold that end firmly.

. v MARVIN CAMRAS.

